Praise for Happy Days Were Here Again “Most of the pleasure comes from Mr. Buckley’s exuberance, his enthusiasm for wha...
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Praise for Happy Days Were Here Again “Most of the pleasure comes from Mr. Buckley’s exuberance, his enthusiasm for whatever task he has in hand, especially the chase. Anyone who gets so much fun out of life, and who can convey some of it through his writing, cannot help being likeable.” —John Grimond, in The New York Times Book Review “The collection . . . is pure pleasure. I dare you to dip into it anywhere without becoming captivated by the bracing prose, the hard-edged political analysis, the gleeful puncturing of modern cultural idiocy. Most compelling, as always, is the logic, the point-by-point, flawless construction of each case. The notorious vocabulary sparkles everywhere, but the words hang on the strongest chain of unassailable argument.” —Rush Limbaugh, in National Review “I confess to an ailment common among Americans of liberal disposition: I have a large fondness for William F. Buckley Jr. . . . It should be said that while Buckley has issued many collections of columns and articles, this one is particularly good.” —E. J. Dionne Jr., in Newsday “The verve with which [Buckley] writes . . . makes the reader feel the joy of intellectual combat. . . . This book is the work of a truly happy warrior.” —American Way “Slashing, energetic, acerbically witty.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Happy Days Were Here Again is a compelling reminder that good thoughts written well are never tiresome. . . . One reads this book with that ease that conjoins good writing, only looking back in reflection to see the verbal mastery. Here are inscribed those arguments we wish we had made ourselves. Buckley is, to use one of his favored expressions, the columnist à outrance.” —The Dartmouth Review
“William F. Buckley is no Puritan. He has too much fun, and the verve and enthusiasm he radiates are part of the fun of reading him. Also the big words and foreign phrases that journalists say he shouldn’t use. I mean, the man might be lapidary, but he’s not eristic. Nicht wahr?” —The Milwaukee Journal “Perhaps what [William] Shawn said of the author’s sailing journal Windfall readily applies to this present work: ‘The Buckley style, thank goodness, is intact, and the humor is undiminished.’” —The Columbia [S.C.] State “Irreverent wit, erudition, and a joie de vivre which borders on barely repressed glee.” —Daily Press, Newport News
Also by William F. Buckley Jr. God and Man at Yale (1951)
* High Jinx (1986)
McCarthy and His Enemies, co-authored with L. Brent Bozell Jr. (1954)
Racing through Paradise (1987) * Mongoose, R.I.P. (1988)
Up from Liberalism (1959)
Keeping the Tablets, co-edited with Charles R. Kesler (1988)
The Committee and Its Critics (ed.) (1962)
On the Firing Line (1989) Gratitude (1990)
Rumbles Left and Right (1963)
* Tucker’s Last Stand (1990)
The Unmaking of a Mayor (1966)
Windfall (1992)
The Jeweler’s Eye (1968)
In Search of Anti-Semitism (1992)
Odyssey of a Friend, by Whittaker Chambers, introduction and notes by WFB (1969)
* The Blackford Oakes Reader (1995)
The Governor Listeth (1970)
* Brothers No More (1995)
Did You Ever See a Dream Walking? (ed.) (1970)
Buckley: The Right Word, edited by Samuel S. Vaughan (1996)
Cruising Speed (1971)
The Lexicon (1996)
Inveighing We Will Go (1972)
Nearer, My God (1997)
Four Reforms (1973)
* The Redhunter (1999)
United Nations Journal (1974)
Let Us Talk of Many Things (2000)
Execution Eve (1975)
* Spytime (2000)
* Saving the Queen (1976)
* Elvis in the Morning (2001)
Airborne (1976)
* Nuremberg (2002)
* Stained Glass (1978)
* Getting It Right (2003)
A Hymnal (1978)
The Fall of the Berlin Wall (2004)
* Who’s on First (1980)
Miles Gone By (2004)
* Marco Polo, If You Can (1982) Atlantic High (1982)
* Last Call for Blackford Oakes (2005)
Overdrive (1983)
* The Rake (2007)
* The Story of Henri Tod (1984)
Cancel Your Own Goddam Subscription (2007)
* A Very Private Plot (1994)
* See You Later Alligator (1985) * The Temptation of Wilfred Malachey (1985) Right Reason, edited by Richard Brookhiser (1985) *Fiction
Flying High: Remembering Barry Goldwater (2008) The Reagan I Knew (2008)
W I L L I A M F. BUCKLEY JR.
A MEMBER OF THE PERSEUS BOOKS GROUP NEW YORK
Copyright © 1993 by William F. Buckley Jr. Hardcover first published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto, in 1993. Paperback first published in 2008 by Basic Books, A Member of the Perseus Books Group All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address Basic Books, 387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016-8810. Books published by Basic Books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail special.markets@perseusbooks.com. The essays that appear in this work have been previously published in Esquire, Family Weekly, 50 Plus magazine, National Review, The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Playboy, Primary Color, Spirit of America, Vanity Fair, and Mr. Buckley’s syndicated column. BOOK DESIGN BY NAOMI OSNOS
The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition of this book as follows: Buckley, William F. (William Frank), 1925– Happy days were here again : reflections of a libertarian journalist / William F. Buckley, Jr.; edited by Patricia Bozell. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-679-40398-1 1. Bozell, Patricia B. II. Title. PN4874.B796A3 814'.54—dc20
1993b
Paperback: ISBN: 978-0-465-00335-8 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
93-13597
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WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY JR. (1925–2008) was an intellectual leader of the Right for more than fifty years. The founder and editor-in-chief of National Review and the founder and host of Firing Line, he was also the author of more than fifty books of fiction and nonfiction. His syndicated column, “On the Right,” was begun in 1962 and appeared in newspapers around the country for forty-six years. He served (briefly) as a CIA agent in the early 1950s, helped found Young Americans for Freedom in 1960, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George H. W. Bush in 1991. He died in February 2008.
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Praise for Happy Days Were Here Again “Most of the pleasure comes from Mr. Buckley’s exuberance, his enthusiasm for whatever task he has in hand, especially the chase. Anyone who gets so much fun out of life, and who can convey some of it through his writing, cannot help being likeable.” —John Grimond, in The New York Times Book Review “The collection . . . is pure pleasure. I dare you to dip into it anywhere without becoming captivated by the bracing prose, the hard-edged political analysis, the gleeful puncturing of modern cultural idiocy. Most compelling, as always, is the logic, the point-by-point, flawless construction of each case. The notorious vocabulary sparkles everywhere, but the words hang on the strongest chain of unassailable argument.” —Rush Limbaugh, in National Review “I confess to an ailment common among Americans of liberal disposition: I have a large fondness for William F. Buckley Jr. . . . It should be said that while Buckley has issued many collections of columns and articles, this one is particularly good.” —E. J. Dionne Jr., in Newsday “The verve with which [Buckley] writes . . . makes the reader feel the joy of intellectual combat. . . . This book is the work of a truly happy warrior.” —American Way “Slashing, energetic, acerbically witty.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Happy Days Were Here Again is a compelling reminder that good thoughts written well are never tiresome. . . . One reads this book with that ease that conjoins good writing, only looking back in reflection to see the verbal mastery. Here are inscribed those arguments we wish we had made ourselves. Buckley is, to use one of his favored expressions, the columnist à outrance.” —The Dartmouth Review
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“William F. Buckley is no Puritan. He has too much fun, and the verve and enthusiasm he radiates are part of the fun of reading him. Also the big words and foreign phrases that journalists say he shouldn’t use. I mean, the man might be lapidary, but he’s not eristic. Nicht wahr?” —The Milwaukee Journal “Perhaps what [William] Shawn said of the author’s sailing journal Windfall readily applies to this present work: ‘The Buckley style, thank goodness, is intact, and the humor is undiminished.’” —The Columbia [S.C.] State “Irreverent wit, erudition, and a joie de vivre which borders on barely repressed glee.” —Daily Press, Newport News
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Also by William F. Buckley Jr. God and Man at Yale (1951)
* High Jinx (1986)
McCarthy and His Enemies, co-authored with L. Brent Bozell Jr. (1954)
Racing through Paradise (1987) * Mongoose, R.I.P. (1988)
Up from Liberalism (1959)
Keeping the Tablets, co-edited with Charles R. Kesler (1988)
The Committee and Its Critics (ed.) (1962)
On the Firing Line (1989) Gratitude (1990)
Rumbles Left and Right (1963)
* Tucker’s Last Stand (1990)
The Unmaking of a Mayor (1966)
Windfall (1992)
The Jeweler’s Eye (1968)
In Search of Anti-Semitism (1992)
Odyssey of a Friend, by Whittaker Chambers, introduction and notes by WFB (1969)
* The Blackford Oakes Reader (1995)
The Governor Listeth (1970)
* Brothers No More (1995)
Did You Ever See a Dream Walking? (ed.) (1970)
Buckley: The Right Word, edited by Samuel S. Vaughan (1996)
Cruising Speed (1971)
The Lexicon (1996)
Inveighing We Will Go (1972)
Nearer, My God (1997)
Four Reforms (1973)
* The Redhunter (1999)
United Nations Journal (1974)
Let Us Talk of Many Things (2000)
Execution Eve (1975)
* Spytime (2000)
* Saving the Queen (1976)
* Elvis in the Morning (2001)
Airborne (1976)
* Nuremberg (2002)
* Stained Glass (1978)
* Getting It Right (2003)
A Hymnal (1978)
The Fall of the Berlin Wall (2004)
* Who’s on First (1980)
Miles Gone By (2004)
* Marco Polo, If You Can (1982) Atlantic High (1982)
* Last Call for Blackford Oakes (2005)
Overdrive (1983)
* The Rake (2007)
* The Story of Henri Tod (1984)
Cancel Your Own Goddam Subscription (2007)
* A Very Private Plot (1994)
* See You Later Alligator (1985) * The Temptation of Wilfred Malachey (1985) Right Reason, edited by Richard Brookhiser (1985) *Fiction
Flying High: Remembering Barry Goldwater (2008) The Reagan I Knew (2008)
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W I L L I A M F. BUCKLEY JR.
A MEMBER OF THE PERSEUS BOOKS GROUP NEW YORK
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Copyright © 1993 by William F. Buckley Jr. Hardcover first published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto, in 1993. Paperback first published in 2008 by Basic Books, A Member of the Perseus Books Group All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address Basic Books, 387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016-8810. Books published by Basic Books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail special.markets@perseusbooks.com. The essays that appear in this work have been previously published in Esquire, Family Weekly, 50 Plus magazine, National Review, The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Playboy, Primary Color, Spirit of America, Vanity Fair, and Mr. Buckley’s syndicated column. BOOK DESIGN BY NAOMI OSNOS
The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition of this book as follows: Buckley, William F. (William Frank), 1925– Happy days were here again : reflections of a libertarian journalist / William F. Buckley, Jr.; edited by Patricia Bozell. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-679-40398-1 1. Bozell, Patricia B. II. Title. PN4874.B796A3 814'.54—dc20
1993b
Paperback: ISBN: 978-0-465-00335-8 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
93-13597
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Page 414
WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY JR. (1925–2008) was an intellectual leader of the Right for more than fifty years. The founder and editor-in-chief of National Review and the founder and host of Firing Line, he was also the author of more than fifty books of fiction and nonfiction. His syndicated column, “On the Right,” was begun in 1962 and appeared in newspapers around the country for forty-six years. He served (briefly) as a CIA agent in the early 1950s, helped found Young Americans for Freedom in 1960, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George H. W. Bush in 1991. He died in February 2008.